


What does my future look like?

by woodentarantula



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, im a big sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 13:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9444227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodentarantula/pseuds/woodentarantula
Summary: There's a thousand booths in the Partellum Market but the one that catches Prompto's eye is draped in purple fabric and as a plain sign that reads"Witch for hire?"





	

The market in Lestallum is stuffed with stalls selling food, fabrics, jewelry, and stuff that Noctis couldn’t even recognize. As he was puzzling over some ingredients and trying to remember what dishes they were for, Prompto bounces excitedly to his side, pointing as a stall draped in deep purple and a plain sign hanging off the table.

“Witch for hire?” Noctis asks. “Doesn’t seem like your type of thing.”

“Doesn’t it seem cool, though?” He pulls at Noctis’s shirt playfully. “C’mon, let’s check it out!”

Behind the table is a woman that may have been 60, may have been 600. Her long, silver hair was pulled back in a tight bun in the back of her head and her long, withered fingers were busy setting a shining gem into a bracelet. She looks up before Noctis and Prompto fully reach her. “Hello dears,” she smiles. “What might you be looking for?”

Prompto peers over the table. “What do you do?”

“Well,” the woman says, holding up the bracelet. “We have little trinkets like this that have certain properties that can help you. We also do readings, both palm and tarot.”

Prompto bounces a little more. “Like fortune telling? That’s so cool!” He looks over at Noctis, pulling his best puppy-dog eyes. “You have the money, Noct. Can we?”

Noctis grimaces, glancing at their dwindling supply of gil. He had just bought two, rather pricy recipe books for Ignis and they had fairly little left for the potions they’ll need when they leave again. There had been a restaurant near where they parked, maybe they could get an easy hunt and make some money back? He turns to the woman. “What are your prices? We’re a bit low at the moment.”

“Well dears, the cheapest I have is a single card reading. Normally it would be 50 gil each but for you two…” she makes a little flourish with her hand, setting the bracelet away from her, “two for one deal. 

“That’s very kind of you,” Noctis says slowly, more than a little suspicious they were being swindled, but Prompto looked so excited they were getting a bargain that he couldn’t refuse.

The woman takes their gil and brings up a small, wooden box with tiny carvings of what looked like the gods surrounded in swirling clouds and waves and flames. From the box she produces a large stack of cards, their corners bent and sides weathered. She makes a flourish of bringing them out, much to Prompto’s joy. Noctis laughs inwardly, he probably enjoyed the theatrics of it all more than anything.

“Is there anything we need to do?” Noctis asks hesitantly.

“Why, yes, dear there is.” She begins moving the cards between her hands, pulling them apart and shifting them back together. “As I shuffle, ask the cards a question, then you’ll cut the deck in three, put it back together again, and I’ll read you the top card to answer.” 

Prompto crouches in front of the booth, resting his elbow on the table, chin on his fist. “A question?”

“Yes, yes,” She looks at her cards on the table and neither of them. “A good place to start might be ‘what does my future look like,’ but you can ask anything you want.” Only now does she face at Noctis. “Do you want to start?”

He shrugs. “Sure, what does my future look like?”

The woman chuckles, handing him the deck. After he’s cut it and put the cards back together, she turns over the top one, laughing again at the boys’ horrified expressions. “The card Death does not mean what you think it means.”

It certainly looks like it does. The illustration on the card shows a skeleton with a long, black cloak riding on a dark horse in front of what looks like a burning citadel, trampling a man already half in the ground wearing a crown. That can’t possibly bode well.

“Death, in this sense, means some enormous change is coming. A change so drastic and sudden that you might not recognize yourself at the end of it. And what better way to symbolize that great change with the greatest change a human can ever experience?”

The woman looks quite pleased with herself. “Now you, Sunshine. 

Prompto laughs a little nervously. “Oh, uh, I’m a little embarrassed to say…”

“I’ve heard them all, dear, don’t be afraid.”

He shifts a little uncomfortably while the woman starts shuffling the cards again and when he finally speaks, it’s so quietly Noctis is surprised the woman could hear him at all. “What does my… love life look like?”

The woman smiles sweetly “That’s a fairly common question, Sunshine, no need to be so shy.” She repeats the process with Prompto as she had with Noct, turning over the top card to show a hand holding a single, enormous chalice overflowing with water into a clear pool and a small bird flying above. However, this card was clearly upside down. “Ah, now these are far more interesting.”

Prompto looks up cautiously. “Why’s that?”

“Death is one of the major arcana; a very important part of the tarot, of course, but they just don’t carry the nuance of the minor arcana. This,” she taps on the edge of the card, “is the ace of cups. I’d wager this card is more about you that your loved one. Normally this card means an overwhelming amount amount of love for the couple,” Prompto leans forward a bit, a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “But, dear, the card is reversed. So it means you’ve been hiding from your emotions and won’t let yourself experience the joy the relationship could bring. That sound about right?”

He leans back again, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Yeah, a bit. Any advice?”

The woman starts putting the cards away. “Maybe you should talk to your love, instead of asking random old ladies about it.”

“Now _that_ sounds about right,”  Prompto laughs a tad indignantly. “C’mon Noct, let’s go back to the hotel before it get’s too dark.”

“Oh, yeah um, I wanna look at the accessories she has, too. We should take some hunts in the morning and they may help us. Go on ahead, though.”

Prompto shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

Noctis turns back to the booth as Prompto trots away, a tray of bracelets and charms materializing on the table and the woman with a self-satisfied look on her face. Prompto’s far out of earshot already but she leans in close to Noctis and half-whispers, “You really should talk to him.”

Noctis leans away from her. “About what, his crush? It’s not really news, we have this friend Cindy he talks about all the time but I’m not even sure she’s _into_ guys so-” 

“You’re a fool,” the woman says, relishing in Noctis’s surprised look. “You’re really going to let yourself believe it’s this Cindy girl?” 

“Well, yeah. Who else could it be?”

The woman clicks her tongue, handing Noctis a carbon bangle. “This’ll help the boy. He might as well be made of glass. On the house.”

“Th-thank you?” Noctis says, finally walking away. He manages to find Ignis in the crowd and lets him know that Prompto had headed back to the hotel for the night and that he was about to turn in himself.

“Very well. I think Gladio and I will stay out for a while longer, if it’s all the same.” Noctis nods and heads for the hotel. The four of them have been traveling long enough now, the eldest two hardly got any time to just each other. Lestallum was a beautiful city, too. Good for couples.

Noctis swallowed. Maybe it’s good timing then.

When Noctis enters the hotel room, Prompto is already in bed, laying on his side facing away from him. There’s a quick sound of shifting blankets while Noctis closes the door. “I know you’re not asleep.”

“Man, are you psychic along with all the other magic?” Prompto turns over, pulling the covers back and sitting cross legged over them, his phone clearly in his hand, the screen not even dark.

Noctis makes himself laugh. “You never sleep on your side.” 

Prompto rubs his neck, the same forced laugh pushed out. “Haha, yeah, huh?” 

Silence. Noctis isn’t sure what to do. Should he sit? Do you normally stand when you ask your best friend if he has a crush on you? Is sitting on the bed too close? Is the arm chair in the corner too far away, too impersonal? Prompto’s fidgeting, picking at his socks, rolling the cuff of his jeans between his fingers, playing with his nails. He’s avoiding his phone, is he trying to start the conversation? Is Noctis just pushing what he’s feeling on to him? Someone’s got to start though and while Noctis isn’t exactly amazing with talking he might as well learn and it might as well be now.

“I was thinking-”

“So about the-”

They both stop.

“Oh, no, you go ahead, man.”

“No it’s probably better if you…” Noctis makes a vague motion with his hand he hopes communicates both _please don’t make me do this_ and _I have no idea what I’m doing._

“Well, ah, about what the lady said, how I should talk them, the person I’m crushing on? I just don’t know if I can, like, what if I ruin everything? Just cause some woman I don’t know said I should?”

The words ‘them’ and ‘person’ hang heavier in Noctis’s head than they should. “Its pretty good advice, generally. Get everything out in the open.” What the woman said rings in his ears. Made of glass, made of glass, tread lightly. Noctis plays with his bangs in an effort to seem casual. “Plus, this person would be lucky to have someone half as cool as you.”

Prompto’s face snaps up from his feet, looking Noctis full in the face. Noctis doesn’t miss the dusting of pink in his cheeks while he feels his own face redden too. “You… really think so?”

Noctis scoffs. _Calm. Contained. You’ll be fine._ “Yeah, of course.”

Prompto looks back to his feet, tugging as the seam of his jeans now. “Cool, uhm, thats, really cool actually. I’m glad ‘cause…” He looks away, closes his eyes briefly, exhales and practically whispers “it’s you.”

Prompto’s face is a furious red, freckles damn near invisible in his blush but Noctis is pretty sure he’s not that different. He rests his hand on one of Prompto’s, still tangled in the fabric of his jeans and smiles as reassuringly as he can manage. “I know.” 

Prompto won’t meet Noctis’s eyes, but intertwines their fingers. “You did? So, what next?” 

“I only knew because the woman told me.” Noctis confesses. “So I hadn’t really thought of it but this,” he squeezes Prompto’s hand gently. “is really nice. Gladio and Ignis won’t be back for a while so we could just… stay here. Talk? Play some King’s Knight?” He nudges Prompto’s shoulder playfully.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” Prompto says, sliding his phone to rests comfortably in his free hand and booting up the app.

Noctis digs his phone out of his pocket, resigning to playing with his left hand. The loadout isn’t even done before puts it down again. “I’m worried.”

“What, about your reading?” Prompto asks, carefully watching Noctis’s eyes. “Well, my reading turned out alright, huh? Yours can be too terrible. And, even if it is,” He strokes his thumb over the back of Noctis’s hand, rests his other hand on his knee. “we’ll be here. Gladio and Ignis and me.”

Nostic doesn’t miss the subtle stress on that last word. “Yeah, you will, I won’t doubt that.” Noctis brings Prompto’s hand to his cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin against his and pressing his lips to his palm. “Thank you.”

“Y-yeah dude, no problem.” Prompto replies. The flush from his confession had faded but now it’s back, far more gentle but nonetheless there.

Noctis drops his phone to the bed, touching lightly at Prompto’s chin with his now free hand. “Can I…”

Prompto nods, words apparently failing him, and flexes his hand pressed to Noctis’s cheek, urging him on. Noctis kisses him, as soft and sweet as he can, trying to tell in the gentle movement of his lips that he couldn’t be happier.


End file.
